When completed, the new 4,600-square-foot office will include a children’s area, a coffee bar and other environmentally friendly features. It will also have customer drive-thrus and a drive-up automated teller machine.

The new location -- near North 26th Street and east and north of the retail mall that includes Biggby Coffee -- will replace the credit union's current office at 5190 Gull Road.

Officials have not said how much the credit union is spending on the project.

“I was a part of ECCU when we were first able to offer our members service at this location in 1987,” Charles Cornelius, ECCU’s chief executive officer and president stated in a press release. “I am pleased to now be able to thank them for the success of that office, not just with a new coat of paint or a few renovations, but by providing them a brand new office which will allow us to provide them a welcoming atmosphere and more space. The greater service we’ll be able to provide to our ECCU family is something we’re all looking forward to.”

He did not indicate how much larger the new location will be, compared to the current location.

ECCU collaborated with Atlanta-based consulting and facilities development firm Level 5 on a design “that will help the community and ECCU members feel even more at home when using the Gull Road branch.”

According to the credit union, construction work is being sub-contracted to local companies “to help fuel the local economy.”

The Gull Road branch is managed by Barb Heinonen, who said in the press release, “My staff and I appreciate the support that we have received from our members and the community, and are excited for a new building that will give us even more opportunity to make our current and future members feel welcome.”

ECCU has $371 million in assets under management and nearly 36,000 members in the greater educational community (teachers, students, faculty embers and their families) in 21 counties in Michigan. Its main office is at 1551 S. 9th St., in Kalamazoo, with other branch locations in Lawrence, Plainwell, Portage and Three Rivers.